Citizenship Under Neo-Liberalism: Immigrant Minorities in New Zealand 1990-1999

http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz ResearchSpace@Auckland

Copyright Statement

The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand).

This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use:

• Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person.

• Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of this thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.

• You will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from their thesis.

To request permissions please use the Feedback form on our webpage.

http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/feedback

General copyright and disclaimer

In addition to the above conditions, authors give their consent for the digital copy of their work to be used subject to the conditions specified on the Library Thesis Consent Form.

CITIZENSH IP UNDER NEO.LIBERALISM:

IMMIGRANT MINORITIES IN NEW ZEALAND 1990-1999

KATHERINE ALEXANDRA MCMILLAN

A thesis submitted to University of Auckland

ⁱⁿ

partialfulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics

University

of

Auckland

2001.

For

Graeme and

Bridget

Ideally, a citizen is an individual who is a fonnal member

of

a self-governing

political community, with individual rights and

^freedoms

that are

equal

to

those

of

^other

citizens, and which are protected by law.

This thesis

investigates

how closely the citizenship status of non-Maori

ethnic

minorities in New

Zealand approximated

this ideal during the

1990s.

Its

particular

focus is on how the

neo-liberal

ideology of National and Coalition

Govemments between 1990

and

1999, and those Governments' understandings

of the

nature and

political

significance

of

ethnicity, affected the

ability

of those belonging to

non-Maori

ethnic

minority

groups

to be full

^{and equal} members

of

the

New

Zealand

political

community,

with

an equal capacity

for

self-governance at the

individual level

and ^as members of the

political

community.

The thesis takes the

form of

a

suney of public policy

and

law

over a period

of

nine years. Five broad areas

or

aspects

of public policy

are examined:

the collection

and dissemination

of official 'ethnic'

statistics;

immigration

and citizenship

policy; civil rights provided for in

domestic

and international law;

mechanisms

for

^ensuring

access to

political

decision-making; and social policy. The question asked in the thesis

is

whether the policies developed and adrninistered

in

each

of

these areas

during

the

1990s enriched or detracted from the citizenship status of non-Maori

^ethnic minorities.

lll

Many

people have been

involved in

the completion

of this

thesis.

First

thanks go to

my principal

supervisor, Professor

Andrew

Sharp

of the

Department

of Political

Studies

of

the

University of Auckland for his

astute and stimulating guidance during

the writing of the

thesis. Thanks

also go to Dr Rian Voet, of the Deparfinent of

Political

Studies

at Auckland University who

supervised

me for a short period in

Professor Sharp's absence. Special thanks go to John

Ma$in of

the School

of

Public Management

at Victoria University of Wellington who, in an unofficial

capacity, provided invaluable guidance and support

whiie I

completed the thesis

in Wellington.

In

undertaking

this

research

I

^spoke

to many public

^servants

in a wide range of

government

agencies

and I thank them all for their help with resources

and

information. ln

particular

I would like to

^thank

Lalita

^{Kasanji, Thomas Banda,}

Ann

Beaglehole,

Diana

Suggate, and Barbara Thompson

of the

Deparhne,lrt

of

^Intemal

Affairs; Liz

Tanielu and Fanafi Masoe

of New

Zealand Employment;

Kurepi Taivita

and

Lui Holona of the Ministry of Pacific

Island Affairso Debbie Sorrenson

of

the

Ministry of Health; Leseili Tongelele of the Ministry of Education; and

Kuresa Tiumalu-Faleseuga of the Community Funding Agency,

all

of whom gave generously of their time and knowledge.

Thanks also go

to

the Department

of Political

Studies at the

University of Auckland

and the School

of Political

Science and lntemational Relations ^at

Victoria University of Wellington for providing me with office facilities while witing

^the

thesis. Both

Deparfinents

provided wonderfully collegial

atnospheres

in which to study and I thank all the friends and

colleagues

I have met in both

Deparfrnents

for

^their

conversation and friendship.

Lastly, I thank all the

^me,mbers

of my family, particularly my

parents,

Nancy

^and

Stuart

McMillan for

their kindness and

their faith in

me, and

for

their proof-reading;

my mother-in-law

Bernice

Acton for

her kindness,

my

sister Natasha

McMillan, for

her support and friendship; and, most importantly, my husband Graeme

Acton,

for his love and support.

iv

Table of Contents

Abstract' ""'""'iii

Aeknowledgements. ...iv

Table of Contents. ...,...v

List

of Tables and

Figures....

^{. - -.}

-.... .xi

Introduction PART I: TI{EORETICAL AND EISTORICAL X'RAMEWORK I. Liberal Citizenship Theory

and

Immigrant Minorities Introductian Liberal

citizenship

i.

^Classical

liberal citizenship ...

^{. -. - -..23}

ii Socialliberalcitizenship ....-...28

iii.

^Tlte neo-liberal critique of social

citizenship ...35

Immigrant minorities and equal

citizenship

^..

-...46

i.

Citizenshiprights of

immigrantminorities ..,...47

1.

Linguistic assistance

rights..

^{... .. -}

...47

2. Representationrights. ..-..-...49

3. Exemptionsfromlawonculturalgrounds. ...53

4.

Other

minority righ*

that are not applicable to

immigrant minorities. .... -...54

v

ru.

Obligatians

associatd

with

imnigrant

minartfies' speeial eitidertshlp

righ* ...60

Ixnntgrant

nttnortties and tke d,emoc,ratic

cwnmunity

^{... ...}

...62

i,

^Soetatr,

rights:

mtntntstng

ine4yality ...

^..,.,,..62

n

^The

trmridon fron

eoeiel-liberelism to

noo-liberqlirm: Nafional ln

Griveinment

199{-1999

Intro&rctton...

I. Apeduttnnia: stateifienentian 1935-1984 ,...58

fi.

ITte asaendancy

ofneo-llberalisw:

^Labour

inpower

198+1990e...

...,74

m Nafioqql'swqlf,arevicion 1990-I'996 ...,...83

l,

^'Welfare

that

^Works'

...,....

ii.

^{Sectoral wefare} pal:try. clianges..

r...r.,...-...i....,..r... '....87

In

^'Beyand

Dependawyl-...,.... rrrr.rrrr'r,i*,-.,,..,....96

Aonel,usiwt a, b.

e.

d.

e,

f.

vi

PART II:

TEE CITIZENSHIP STATUS OF NON-MAORI ETM'IIC MINORTTIES IN NEW ZEALAND

Itr. Colouring by Numbers: Ethnic

Statistics,

Targeting

and

Risk Management

Introduction... -...107

I.

^The history of

racial

classification and statistics in New Zealand 185i,-1991

i.

Nineteenth century censuses and

racial

classffications

....

^{. . . ..1 I I}

ii. 'Racial' terminologt

in

Nmt

Zealand censuses 1851-1976... ....1

l3

iii. From 'race' to

'ethnicity', assimilation to multiculturalism

and

biculturalism:1976-1991...

^...118

il. Ethnic

statistics

inthe

1990s:

targetingandriskrnanagement... ...130

i.

^The New Zealand Standard ClassiJication

ofEthnicity.. ...130

ii.

^Social

policy

and the use of ethnic statistics to implement targeting

of

welfare

assistance.

^{.. ....137}

Conclusian

....144

ry. Creating

^the

National Community: Citizenship, Immigration Policy

^and

Ethnicity

Introduction...

^...148

I Historical

background

i. Immigration

and citizenship

policy

in New

Zealand

1840-1986 ^. ....151

ii.

^Labour and

the

1986 Review of Immigration

Policy ...160 il. National's

immigration

policy 1990-1997 ...163

i.

^{The Report of the Working Party on}

Immigration l99I .... ....163

vn

TheNovember 1991

immigrationpolicychanges ...166

The

fficts

^of

thepolicy

^changes: irnmigration to New Zealand 1991-

199s.. ...167

'Asianisation'

_vs

the'Inv-Asian'... ...I72

The 1995

immigrationpolicy changes ....L79

vi. Immigration,

nationalism and

the

¹⁹⁹⁶

election

^{.. ... ....187}

ill. Citizenshippolicy 199I-1999 '..193

conclusion ...195

V. Civit Rights

of

Ethnic Minorities in

New T.ealand

Introduction... ...198

I.

^The

historical

development of New Zealand's legal human

rights

framework. ...202

il.

^Laws

protecting civil

rights

ofparticular

signi/icance to ethnic and

immigrant

minortties in New

Zealand. ...2I7

i.

Non-discrirnination

rights

^{... ..}

..2I7

ii.

^The

right

to an interpreter

or translator.

^{.. ... . ..}

..235 iii.

^The

right

^offreedom of thought, conscience and

religion ...241

iv.

^The

right

^of ethnic minority

children

^{.. . ... .243}

v.

^{The rights} of ethnic, national, religious or ethnic minorities. ^. .. . . .. .245

vi.

The rights of

refugees ...245

Conclusion ...247

VI. Politicsl Rights

^of

Ethnic Minorities in

New

Zealand

Introduction ... ...253

I

^{The standard}

political

^{rights of ethnic} minorities in

Nqv Zealand

^....255

n.

ut.

vlll

U.

The idea of representation generally and of minority representation more

specifically ""257

i.

^The

casefor'descriptive'representation..- ""'260

ii. Public

choice theory

and

'descriptive'

representation... ....

^{- - -267}

The Mixed Member

Proportional Electoral

QIIMP) ^{system and the}

political

representation of ethnic minority groups

i.

Group representation and the Report of the Royal Commission on the

Electoral

^{System 1986}

. ""269

ii.

The referenda on the electoral system ¹⁹⁹²

and

1993

' """ "'271

Institutionalrepresentationthrough'clientbased' agencies.

^...279

i.

Questions of institutional

design. ""'279

ii.

^The

Ministry

of Pacific

IslandAffairs.... ""282

iii.

^{The Ethnic}

Affairs Service. ""292

a.

^The National Federation of Ethnic Councils and its

requestfor

ethnic representation in government..

... "

'

" ""292

b.

The establishment of the Ethnic A,ffairs service

and

^its

first

Review. " ""297

c-

The Ethnic

Affairs

Serttice becomes

pemanent'

1995"

" ""'302

d.

^{The demise}

of

specialist ethnic

policy advice 1998' ""305

Conclusion

.31I

vII.

Socio-economic

inequality,

^,social

rights"

and

citizenship

Introduction.,.,.. " ""'314

I. Pacific

^Islands people's socio-economic ^status during

the 1990s. .,...317 il.

Non-PaciJic ethnic minority people's socio-economic ^status in the 1990s-..330

ru.

^{Lintrs between} socio-economic stahts and citizenship

status

^-....341

Conclusion "'345

lx

VIII.

^{Social cendces and the}

teulturet of contracting

Intro&mt'ton .,.-...i,...ir''"',"""t"..""'!"t"'r'r'1"""' """'r"" """347

I, Ih-epurchwe-of-sertttc* contracting m;adel and 1mltural' soctal sertti'ce"34g

il.

Gavernment ^polieies relatlng

specfually

to Pacifie

people's

dlsadvantage..,.!..''....rrr.rrlrrrrr'rjrj.r.r'...

lfi.

Gov.ernment policies retating EeetftasltJt ^to non'Pecifi'e ethnic minority'

people{

n;eeds

...r...., .r:i."' ""'r"i"+""''"""""'364

.

Resettlervnt

dssistflnce

for refugeu

W.

TIp Prnchase.of-Suviae'Contaetl,ng ^madel

ond-'AnIWal'sacial sfrvices,".. '."""'d"r' r'*rir"'1""'rrrr'.--jr,"""'371

i.

Purehase-ofsa'vflceeontfacting:

6&)ontagesanddtsadvantdgasfor

Gove.rnment"

prwtden and

^'clients

"'r"''""' ""i""""' "372

ii,Purel6te-of.serviaecontr&et.ingandethnieminortties...',i,.!...376

iii.

^Tafung

'antrnte'

seFiorrlly.."

" "

CilnellpiOnr, r...,..-r...,b...,. r. ..;...t.i... ^I r... '.. r'.... ^{-;. f .. i} "" " "383

Blb|iographyi....d!...r.'...ti...!i...!r..i..

Figures

1.1

r.2

1.3

4.2

Page

Composition

of New Zealmdpopulationby ethnicity 1996 ""'2

Breakdown of thosebelonging ^{to the} Pacific Islands ethnic

goup.

³

Other ethnic groups

inNew

Zeatandas ^a pefcentage of the total

non-Maori'

non-Pacific, non-NZ European

population ""

³

Residency approvals by region

of

applicants January - December ¹⁹⁹³

" "'

¹⁶⁸

Residency approvals by region

of

applicants July l gg4-June ¹⁹⁹⁵ _' ^{. . . . . . .}

"'

^{1 69}

Residency approvals by region

of

applicants

July

¹ 995-June ¹ 996. ^. . . . .

" "'

^{1 70}

Residency approvals

by

source country: Top ten countries

July

1993-June

rgg4. r70

Residency approvals

by

source country: Top ten countries

July

1994-June

1995.. ...171

Residency approvals by source

county:

Top ten counfiies

July

1995-June

tgg6.

^-

." 'r7r

Residency approvals by region

of

applicants July 1996-June 1997

. ."185

Residency approvals

by

sotgce

cogntry

Top ten

counties

1996-1997

" "' "185

Comparison

of

sources of income Pacific people and total New Zealand

population """"

³²⁰

4.1

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.7

4.8

7.1

xl

7.2

7.4

7.5

7.6 7.3.

Occupation (major

goup)

by sex for the employed population of Pacific peoples resident in

New

Zealandaged 15 years and over

1996. ...322

Highest attainment

of

1997 school leavers. Comparison of Pacific and non-

Pacificpopulations... ....''"324

Comparison of pe,l:nanent private dwelling type by tenure, Pacific peoples and total

New

Zealandpopulation

(1996)..

^{. .. - ...329}

Median

Individual

Incomes

for

European ethnic

minority

groups: males and

females over 15

(1996). '..."'331

Median

Individual

Incomes

for

South East Asian groups: males and females

over

l5

(1996).

...332

7.7

7.8

Median

lrdividual

Incomes

for

Asian gloups: males and females

over

¹⁵

(1ee6). 332

Median

Individual

Incomes for Other ethnic

minority goups:

males and

females over 15 (1996).. ^.333

European ethnic

minority

groups: patterns of ernployment

(1996).

^{.. .336}

7.10

South East Asian groups: patterns of ernployment

(1996). .'."

'337

7.ll

^Asian gtoups: patterns

of

employnrent

(1996) ""337

7.12 Otherethnicminoritygroups:

^{patterns of} emplolmrent

(1996) ...--.338

7.13

^Level

ofhighest

qualification

of

European ethnic

minority

^groups

(1996)

..338

7

.14

^{Level of highest} qualification

of

South East Asian groups

(1996). ....339

7.9

xl1

7

.15

^{Level of highest} qualification

of

Asian groups

(1996).

^{- --339}

7

.16

^{Level of highest} qualification

of

Other ethnic

minority

groups

(1996)...340

Tables

7.1

^{Personal income} 1986-1996.

A

comparison of Pacific Island people and the

totalNZpopulation ...--319

xl11